Light times?

[craigcarlon]

Hi, finaly got my tank setup.. I'm just wondering, how many hours should I keep my lights on for? And if the lights are off is it ok to keep the blue light on at night? Or do the all need to be off at the same time and be on at the same time? I've googled it but don't seem to get a straigt answer lol
Are there any things I need to know right now?
The tank was bought 2nd hand, moved from one house to another so I kept the water etc

Thankyouuuuuuuu

 

[ritter6788]

I don't think you'll find a straight answer.

There are many different opinions on this and it will vary depending on the type of lighting. I run leds and my blues come on at 10am then the whites at 11am. The whites go off at 9pm and the blues off at 10pm.

 

[craigcarlon]

now im even more confused ha

i have two white tubes, a blue tube and a strip of blue led's

can the blue one be on for aslong as we want?

so say for instance i have all on for 10 hours and they go off at 9pm, is it ok to have the blue one on for a couple hours extra until say midnight?

cheers for your advice

 

[ritter6788]

Haha sorry for adding to the confusion!

I'd stagger the times so your blues come on first then the whites. Have the whites go off and then the blues. I wouldn't run the blues all the time. You want to give your reef some dark time for corals to grow and fish to sleep. Lots of good things happen in the dark. If you want nighttime viewing I would only use low powered single leds as moonlights.

 

[craigcarlon]

i got you this time lol..

the unit has a strip of blue led's in there so are they ok to be on? they arnt very bright, the main reason im asking is becasue the mrs is saying she wants to see the fish at night lol
thanks again

 

[ritter6788]

I wouldn't run them all the time unless it's a very few amount of LEDs. No more than 1 or 2 leds per 2 foot of tank is plenty for moonlights. A whole strip of them may be too much. It's hard to say without seeing them running on the tank. I like my tank to go dark at night.

If you want nighttime viewing get a dim flashlight with a red lens and go hitchhiker hunting at night.

 

[craigcarlon]

ill be getting my torch out then haha

 

[Newb73]

Just set those LEDs to shut off around 1am and only to come on for the night cycle. It will require an extra timer.

If you dont have any corals, i would only run the main actinics 8 hours a day and only run the main 10k/12k/14k what ever you have about 6 hours a day.

save the bulbs till you get corals, and youll also avoid the headache of some nuiassance algae outbreaks.

 

[Nemoose]

If they are just small LEDs they are probably intended just as moonlights. How long you run the lights depends a lot on what you have in the tank and the light requirements of each item. I usually turn my actinics on first and then the daylights. And. I reverse it at night. This simulates a more natural sunrise and sunset. The moonlights would be for evening or night viewing and I turn them off just before bedtime since my reef is in my bedroom, lol.